


Only Echoes and Shadows

by veinsofblue



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Flashbacks, Gen, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 10:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4561830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veinsofblue/pseuds/veinsofblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: Ro and Coach are dead. Nick is missing and Ellis is trying to find him in the sugarcane fields.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only Echoes and Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I kinda ran in an angst-y direction with this prompt and it basically turned into a game of: how angst-y could I make this fic? Apparently, a lot. **There's your warning.** Anyways, this fanfic is dedicated to my buddy Izzy. Thanks for the prompt and uh, sorry for the _super_ late result ahahah <3

Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the sugarcane field for a few seconds and that was just enough for Ellis to see a gas station from the edge of the field. Only the short trip across the road into the station—a safe house—and he would finally be out of the clutches of the damn field.

“Man, that was a close call. Thought we were goners there.”

When Ellis was met with no response, he spun around hoping that Nick just hadn’t answered because he was out of breath, but there was no sign of the con-man. 

“N-Nick? C’mon man, ya better not be playin’ around ya hear me?”

A shadow moved from the field.

“Nick!”

It was only a lone zombie.

Dread settled in the pit of Ellis’s stomach and he ran back into the field. They had already lost Ro and Coach a few days ago to a tank; Ellis couldn’t bare to lose Nick as well. 

“Nick, where are ya!?”

Ellis’s voice just seemed to echo before being drowned out by the howling wind. 

Just where was Nick? 

 

He swore he had been _right_ behind him when they’d gotten swarmed by a horde. They had fought their way through the zombies—him with a bat and Nick with an axe—both keeping a close eye on the other, back to back. Then a smoker had appeared, the only sign had been a deep raspy cough and had snagged Nick around the neck, dragging him away. Ellis had then reached for his boomer bile to distract the horde only to find it wasn’t there. 

“Dammit!”

He’d forgotten he had used it while attempting to save Ro. He’d quickly shaken that thought away—he had to focus.

“Hold on Nick, I’ll save ya!”

He’d swung his bat at a few zombies that had gotten far too close to him, switched out his bat for his hunting rifle and peered through the scope. He remembered steadily lining up the shot, until both Nick and the special infected had appeared and as the crosshair hovered over the latter, he had pulled the trigger and the smoker’s face had burst.

“Gotcha—shit!”

Another horde had arrived and Ellis had been worried about Nick.

“Nick!”

He saw him hunched over, coughing violently though he’d looked up at his name and managed to hack out a reply.

“I–I’m fine! Just keep batting!”

Ellis had grinned.

“You got it man! Let’s do this!”

Ellis had then swung his bat, decapitating heads and breaking limbs as he’d fought to get closer to Nick. He recalled his arms had been starting to get tired then and the horde had been unrelenting, seemingly endless as they’d driven a greater distance between him and Nick. 

“Watch out Ellis!”

Ellis had spun around at the cry, just in time to see a charger headed straight for him. Slight panic had risen and he’d shoved frantically at the zombies around him, managing to move out of the way at the last moment and turned around to watch as it slammed into the horde. It had taken down most of the infected he’d been struggling with and they were spread far enough away to do much harm.

That had been _way_ too close. 

He had kept his eyes on the charger and watched it stumble a bit till it had turned around and caught sight of him. Before it could charge again, Ellis had shot it and its body fell with a heavy thud. 

“Overalls!” 

Ellis had looked up, watched as Nick trudged over to him, the other’s axe a dull blur between him and a stray zombie separating them. 

“We have got to get out of this goddamn field before _more_ shit happens.”

 

The last thing he’d remembered afterwards was taking shelter in the station from the onslaught of hard rain with Nick so where was he now? The rain had started up again and he was drenched in the liquid ice, searching recklessly for the con-man.

C’mon, he had to be nearby!

Ellis blindly scoured the field, sweeping the sugar stalks aside roughly. He was _not_ going to give up until—“Shit!”

In his haste, he tripped and fell hard onto his knees, pain radiated from his kneecaps to his feet. What had he tripped on? He looked back and froze, his stomach clenched painfully.

“No, no, _no_!”

Nick’s face was frozen in a look of terror and it was a darker discoloration from the rest of his skin, his neck a swollen mess of purplish-blue. No. Not the smoker. It _couldn’t_ have. Ellis had been there himself and killed the damn infected! Right?

There had been another horde after the smoker and then a charger as well. Then they’d both spent the night at the station, but he’d woken up alone. He remembered those events from the previous day so why was Nick here alone in the field?

Hands shaking, he pulled Nick’s cold body towards him and closed the eyes, not wanting to see the fear etched in them any longer. As he drew his hand away, he noticed it was slightly stained a dark color and his eyes fell back on Nick’s face. 

Peering closer, he saw what looked like a wound on the forehead peeking through the damp strands of hair. Hesitantly, he swept the hair away and on the right side of the forehead, just above the brow was a small circular wound.

Fear crept up his spine as he slowly inched both his hands around the back of the head. His breath quickened. No, he was just being paranoid that's all; his hands wouldn't find anything, but he _had_ to make sure. He gave a small sigh. Nothing. Just hair and a solid head—his fingers slipped before his hands met in a complete circle. He felt wetness on his fingertips and a soft texture as it gave way—the back of the head wasn't supposed to be pliable. He wrenched his hands away.

No. _God no_. 

He stared at them, saw them shaking violently and watched as the rain caused the blood to flow from the fingertips to pool around his palms. He blinked and then they were clean. What? What was going on? He shook harder as he gradually remembered, pieces of memory falling into place: 

  


  


_The smoker had Nick so Ellis lined up the rifle's scope. As he was about to pull the trigger, he was jostled from behind and the gun went off unintentionally. Eyes wide with shock, his ears rang from the sudden shot and the blood pumping through him seemed to increase in volume and everything felt a little muffled._

  


-

  


_Nick’s body was all limp, devoid of life—his skin a cool surface under Ellis’s clammy touch. The goddamn smoker had slipped away when Nick had stopped struggling. He’d watched helplessly while fighting off the zombies separating him from the other man. Hysteria simmered and burst forth when he shook Nick and he merely lied there, no movement or snide remarks from the con-man._

  


-

  


_Though the rain had washed some of it away, the mud had smudged and caked itself into the fabric of the suit. Ellis had dragged Nick with him to the gas station. They were now perfectly safe from the zombies in the safe room. Except from a tank, but hey, as long as they didn’t run into one and lead it here, it would be fine._

  


-

  


_Ellis couldn't stand the stench anymore. The body had to go, but it was Nick. His feelings and sanity were waging war against the other and in the end he was alone. Nick had felt like an anchor each step he’d taken away from the station—the falling rain was slowly drowning him. The safe room no longer felt like shelter, but a prison and the awful scent still lingered._

  


-

  


_How many hours had passed? Or was it days now? All he knew was Nick wasn’t there at times and sometimes he was. It was also getting harder to breathe—there was always a putrid stench in the room that seemed to get more foul. Where was Nick?_

  


  


The smell hit him then and he gagged, nausea rose and he tried to push it back down. He could clearly see the state that Nick was in now. He was somewhat bloated, skin a sickly shade with a tinge of green, a few festering blisters here and there and swollen veins stark against the skin. Ellis realized it was no longer Nick. The bile rose too quickly this time and he vomited.

He vomited until he began to retch, the sourness wouldn’t leave his mouth and the smell of decay continued to assault him. A sudden sob startled him and he almost leap to his feet, but he soon realized it had come from himself and he crumbled, clenching the body closer; tears joined shortly as the rain continued its downpour.

  


...the rain had let up and the wind had calmed down as Ellis staggered to his feet. Where was he? He took a look around and all he could see was tall stalks blocking his view. Oh yeah, the darn sugar field. Well, he’d better head back to the safe room, no doubt Nick was going to yell at him for leaving without him. He fixed his hat and walked towards his destination without a backwards glance.

**Author's Note:**

> ~~i'm not sorry >:D~~


End file.
